Dear People of St. David’s
Happy New Year! There is much to be proud of in 2025 and much to look forward to in 2026. In this video letter, the Rev. Rick Morley shares what he is focused on and excited for in the year ahead.
The Rev. Rick Morley welcomes us into the new year with the things he is most excited for and focused on in 2026.
TRANSCRIPT:
This past fall we announced our strategic plan—I hope you had a chance to see that video, and maybe even read over the document—all two pages of it!
The vision of the strategic plan is: “To be a spiritually vibrant, inclusive, outwardly engaged, and welcoming Episcopal Church that fosters worship, intergenerational connection, and stewardship and transforms lives within and beyond our parish with the knowledge and love of God through Jesus Christ.”
The real core of the strategic plan is the four overarching themes:
Inspire a sense of being one body as God’s children.
Ensure financial and operational sustainability for today and the next generation.
Design ministry across commissions with and for all generations
and, Leverage our beautiful and historic grounds more intentionally in ministry.
Every single day I get an email—or I’m in a meeting—and someone will reference one of those four themes. And every time it makes me smile! These themes really are beginning to highlight ministries that we’re already doing, and becoming an inspiration for new ways of doing things. And, that’s exactly what they are for.
The plan ALSO has priorities segmented out for three years—things that we are supposed to engage with or have discussions about. When I look at this year’s list, what I see aren’t just the “St. David’s priorities” but also MY priorities for the coming year. I’m going to quickly go through three of them:
Welcome/Newcomer/Membership
This is a BIG church. For some of us who have been around for a while, we might forget that we are one of the largest Episcopal Churches in the country. And that’s an asset! There’s so much going on here, so much energy, and so many opportunities for engagement—we’re attractive to people who are thinking of finding a church or beginning a new faith journey. But, our size can also be a liability—I’ve heard it from many people: It’s easy to get lost here. It can be overwhelming and disorienting.
We need to be REAL intentional in our welcoming of newcomers, and real clear in what membership looks like. We need to have some tools that help us navigate that, AND which help us know who is who. This is probably going to mean using some technology better—like Realm, and maybe re-using some old technology—like an old-fashioned photo directory in some form or another.
There are SO many entries in Realm which have no pictures associated with them at all. It’s hard to KNOW who is who.
In 2025 our Vicar, the Rev. Thomas Szczerba, has made some real strides in membership and newcomer welcome.
And, this area is a place where we can make a real impact in the whole church.
Digital Formation Ministry
In 2025 we launched the weekly podcast and then we expanded “Cross Connections” to include video formation resources.
I really could not be more pleased with the Cover to Cover podcast—and the incredible work of Elliot VanHoy and Natalee Hill on it.
I STILL cannot get through a Sunday morning, or a parish event here without at least ONE person telling me for the first time that they are an avid listener.
The 9:15 service averages around 300 people a Sunday. The livestream does about that too.
That’s the current listenership of the podcast: around 300 a week—a figure which includes listeners on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. In one year we’ve added ANOTHER 300 person-a-week event. That’s remarkable.
AND, we did it with a rather niche topic—reading the Bible from one end to another. Not everyone is into that.
In 2026 we’re going to expand the podcast with different topics, AND we’re going to make the podcast a little more sustainable for those of us who lead it (!) by building in breaks through the year.
AND, this year, I want to see more of our in-person formation topics find a way to be translated into digital-friendly formation. And by this, I mean that we are creating resources that are made to be DIGITAL FIRST, not just recording events that happen here, live.
Forming disciples of Jesus is the most important thing we do—formation feeds engagement, stewardship, outreach… And, the opportunities to do that in the digital space is a key way to drive St. David’s continued success and growth.
The Church and Day School
The last piece I want to highlight is the Day School—OUR school.
What a gem we have in that school.
This year, under the leadership of the Rev. Tanya Regli, we expanded the weekly chapels that we have with the students of the Day School to include the whole pastoral team. We’re ALL over there leading worship, getting to know the students and teachers, and sharing the Good News of the Gospel.
We’ve shifted our chapel format to emulate what we do at the young Family Service—so if, and when, the families of the Day School come to church, their children will already feel comfortable in what we’re doing. They’ll already know the songs we’re singing, and how we’re praying, and what to do with their hands.
Maria Leal is continuing on the incredible success of this year’s trunk or treat and is developing events designed to intentionally connect the school and children’s ministries.
This year the strategic plan has us working on the relationship with the school, and finding new ways for the church to be a resource for the school, and for the school to be a resource for the church.
This is fertile ground—and I’m really excited for it.
You’ll notice that building ministries across the whole church—linking up one of our ministries with one or several other ministries is coming up again and again. It comes right out of the first overarching theme: We are one body.
I hope that you can tell that I’m really excited for what is coming in the New Year—what we will do together—and with God’s help. Always.
Peace,
The Rev. Rick Morley
Rector
Published on January 1, 2026.